Edmond Dahm
} - Marine= }}} |-| Uniformed= } - 2558= }}} |-| |born= |alias= |died= |homeworld-title=BIRTHPLACE |homeworld=New South Wales, Australia, |gender=Male |height=1.87 Metres (6ft 1in) |weight= |hair=Brown-Red, normally dyed brown |eyes=Hazel |cyber= |rank= |servicenumber=75200-62111-ED |specialty= |sigweapons=M6J/C Carbine Natalie's Momento |branch=* * |unit= |affiliation=*Mira Police Department * *Himself *Jaeter's militia |era=* * * }} Edmond Dahm was a former police officer and serviceman who served with them during the . A competent gunslinger with a knack for surviving unwinnable situations, Dahm was best characterised for his patriotic, somewhat judgemental personality and investigative skills. Leading a brief independent streak in his youth, Dahm would later turn towards police work after a robbery forced him to reconsider the path he was taking. Enjoying much of his time in that profession, the young man would develop many of his core beliefs during that period, such as a strong sense of justice and reluctance against killing his fellow man. After being dishonourably discharged from the organisation, he would reluctantly enlist into the as a means to keep himself employed. Working his way up, Dahm's skills and background would attract the attention of the , where he would serve as first an agent and then finally an Investigator of Section Zero. Unfortunately, by ONI standards Dahm's time here was also brief; he would be blackmailed and reassigned back into the Marines after he stumbled on some illegal activities being conducted by Section Three. Within a frontline unit, he would fight in many of the war's toughest battles, including , and eventually Earth. By this point, however, he grew disinterested in the UNSC; as soon as the war ended, Dahm immediately retired and headed for the Colonial Frontier. Career Service Vitae 2540= |-| 2558= Biography Early Life Edmond Jarad Dahm was born in a large country hospital in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, to Lucinda and George Dahm. They lived on a large family homestead located some 361 kilometres from Bathurst. Here, Dahm and his older siblings were forced to help work on the fields of crops such as sugarcanes and vegetable greenhouses, both of which served as their primary source of income. As a child, he didn't have much technology and his family discouraged this. Instead, he spent most of his free time running and chasing his brothers, sisters and the neighbours kids from across the road. Unfortunately, because of their distance from any major towns, the Dahm children did not have much schooling save for the necessary skills his mother and father taught him. As a result, Edmond didn't have a good grasp on mathematics or science, though his parents were adamant about ensuring his English skills met a common standard. Instead, he was taught more practical skills for survival in the rural environment, such how to break into horses, repair the farming drones and use a firearm to kill pests on the property. However, by far his favourite lesson was when he learnt how to fly the family's antiquated freighter between the property and Bathurst, although the price of Hydrogen and petroleum ensured this remained a rare activity. Unfortunately, the Dahm family was affected by an economic crisis starting in . A large drought hit the farm for several years, reducing the income the family were able to gain. The dried-up and less abundant produce made it less desirable for the companies and people to purchase the family's produce, and after a year all but one small company looked towards other suppliers. While the family knew they had to save money to survive the drought, costs associated with upkeep on the property's cropdusters and trying to diversify their income meant that they began to starve during it's second year. George was often criticised for his addiction of gambling and putting money on the local lottery, leading to increased stress as Dahm and the rest of the family turned on him. Surprisingly, George's addiction proved to be their salvation, when he won a minor lottery of $1.5 million. Despite being given the chance to save the homestead, both his parents came to an agreement that they needed to move to a more stable economic environment. Edmond's oldest brother promised to stay on the homestead to look after it, promising to visit the family when they've set up. Thanks to the economic upswing as a result of the , they would book passage on board the freighter Adamant Venture, captained by the experienced Shankar Martz. Spending the better part of four months on board the Venture while travelling to , Edmond began to undertake a basic course to get him up to speed with what was expected for high school.. When Edmond arrived, he was caught in awe of the surroundings of his new neighbourhood, as he never seen a fully urbanised environment before. While enjoying the free-time before going to school, he frequently caused mischief in the neighbourhood, often using the excuse that he was exploring his new homeland. Schooling for Edmond would be very far from what he was told. While it was true that there were lots of other students to socialise with, the class ranking system meant that the students were encouraged to segregate and become very competitive against each other. He would learn to hate it, as his lack of the most basic academic skills meant he was condemned to the bottom classes known as the 'rainbow learners'. This fact meant that at first many of his peers looked down on him, but with backing from his family he became determined to win them over. He joined many extra-curriculum sports, and joined the bottom of many social groups before finally being able to form his own gang of friends. Only a young Alex Dubbo would befriend him during this transitionary period, becoming his closest friend in the process. As he got older, the pressures of later school life would imprint changes on him. After witnessing the shocking academic results from his older brothers and sisters, Lucinda began to crack down on Edmond to do better at school. Between the constant arguments with his parents and the lack of time to enjoy himself, Edmond would only see home life as an extension of school, and organised nights out with his friends. Most of these early rebellions were harmless, with late-night soccer games being the norm, but as tension increased Edmond began to take more risks. Peer pressure meant that he began infiltrating nightclubs, taking low-level drugs and, upon getting his license, encouraged to perform street races with his friends. This all, of course, caused even more trouble in school, resulting in broken property and fights in addition to the various punishments set by the teachers. By year eleven, Edmond had little to challenge the thought that he and his gang were above the law. URF Involvement Eventually, Edmond's actions and reckless nature led him becoming known for his long line of ex-girlfriends, dumping them when the relationships took a turn for the worst. His hobbies and thrill-seeking attitude meant it was inevitable that he would fall in love with Natalie Kewling, one of the newest additions to his grade. Despite being tall and physically attractive like his previous girlfriends, she didn't mind getting her hands dirty and cared less about undertaking the risks Edmond's group took. In addition, she was often utterly unimpressed by the activities they did. Already crazy about the way she acted, Edmond became obsessed with trying to impress her. He led more bold strikes, with the apex being when led his gang performed an armed robbery of a local bank before disappearing into the night. Even here, she remained unimpressed, although she finally allowed him to know what would change her opinion of him. Kewling offered them to storm the PassiGear Tower in Mira's Central Business Division (CBD), where they would rob the building and steal a small amount of credits as well as a few packages. Though she didn't attend this, she did have one of her other friends known only as 'AJ' to help out in the operation. He supplied the masks and glovesPrior to this raid, Edmond's gang wore fabric masks, and were only armed with small hunting rifles. planned the entire operation for them, as well as put them through a brief period of firearm training. Kewling would supply the weapons, saving the most potent - an - for Dahm himself. At this point, Dahm couldn't shake the feeling that what he was doing would go immorally wrong, yet his desperation to prove himself would see him ignore his conscience in the weeks leading up to the attack. Now fully prepared, the gang would begin their attack on January 17th . With Kewling's friends having already deactivated the alarms, Edmond and his gang would storm the unprepared guards. Edmond and the rest of the gang were shocked at AJ's brutality, where he mercilessly gunned down the security guards. Edmond made his doubts known about the need to kill anyone, but was intimidated by by Aj's rebuttal and armament; in fact, when he was given the offer to run, Edmond declined it, not wanting to ruin his reputation as a fearless rebel. They quickly ascended to their target on level thirteen, in the Research and Development wing, though not as quietly as they hoped; Edmond's hesitation led to a manual alarm being sounded. During the entire raid, Dahm found he was completely out of his depth: the raid quickly turned into a small-scale fight, where the gang were told to do whatever they could to fight off the police assault that was to come. As only AJ was willing to to execute the hostiles, the rest of the gang were tasked to create ways to slow their progress. Edmond was ordered to set explosive charges and then watch the drill as it worked its way through the vault's lock. During these preparations, Edmond caught bits and pieces of a TV report which was showing a strangely-similar circumstance that he was in. While he ignored most of it, it would alert him to a when strafed the top floor, before making a spectacular explosion on his level with a barrage of its missiles. Dahm wasn't the only witness to this; Dubbo also witnessed this while barricading the outer doors, and came running to the drill after grabbing Yelding to make sense of what just happened. In the end, the trio decided it was simply too dangerous it was too dangerous to stay. Before they could sneak off, a platoon of officers had breached the building and the trio fled to AJ, who mercilessly tried to fight them off. Knowing they may not make it out, Dahm and his friends betrayed his ally, incapacitating him while having to kill two police officers causing them trouble. The remainder of the team then tried to evacuate, taking a route that involved going down the fire escape, hijacking the elevator before finally falling two stories down into the building's garden. Despite being wounded and tired, the trio were overwhelmed by the fear that they sought earlier on, and ran in random directions to escape the chaos. By a blind miracle, as well as Dahm's knowledge of the city's layout, he was able to discard his mask and suit he used to infiltrate the building before finally returning home, albeit many hours after avoiding police and emergency vehicles that travelled the streets. Career in Law Enforcement Training and Partnership In the months following the robbery, Dahm's life changed dramatically. Being faced with the possibility of prosecution and being locked away for the very first time, he isolated himself even from his closest friends, and quietly severed many friendships in his gang. Among these was Kewling, who turned out to be related to a prominent rebel family - a secret he would take to his grave. To cope with the guilt that he had gotten people killed, he turned to alcohol and drugs to raise him up. He was eventually discovered by his family, who put him on therapy to help him recover in time for his High School Certificate (HSC). During the therapy sessions, he discovered that, like his friends, he wanted to set right the wrongs he did in during his time in his gang. Unlike Dubbo and Yelding, who both signed up for the , Dahm aspired to join the local Police Department. There was a number of reasons for this, one being that he held the UNSC in low light after that incident and was convinced by his uncle who was an ex-officer. Not long after, he announced that he wanted to take up a university course in Justice and Law, both of which were essential for the Police Academy. He agreed to take on sessions of tutoring to improve his questionable academic skills. Unlike his school years, he was persistent to improve, and at the end of the four-year course, he managed to proudly attain a middle-range score set - his highest score yet. He then attended the Police Academy of New Beijing, where its physical and academic training regime improved his abilities. In , he finally emerged from his schooling to be transferred over to the South Mira Police Station. Despite completing the courses on average marks, the psychiatric profile done on him during his studies made him an unpopular choice for a field partner. As a result, the role of getting him prepared in finishing his last semester in the field fell to Axel Jefferson, a drunkard who was nevertheless a brilliant planner and famous for making accurate snap-judgements of random suspects. He was less-than-thrilled to be given babysitting duties with Dahm, where his smart-ass attitude regularly got under his skin. They were well-known for their excessive bickering, only brought to an end when Dahm's attitude and youthful arrogance was subdued and he began to take his job seriously. This new mindset also saw the pair begin to respect each other's abilities and mindset, especially since Dahm's easygoing and conversational approach allowed him to make informants in the likes of the local homeless and, to an extent, gangs as well. If Dahm hoped his gang history would be buried, he would be disappointed in late 2535, when he would be called to investigate a number of robberies. On the fourth call, he and Jefferson would arrive quick enough to watch a hooded person escaping. Ignoring Jefferson's advise that it would be easier to drive, Dahm took a brief chase with the criminal, only to let him go after he discovered the masked man was Aj. Though he would plead with police leadership, Intendant Ander Vastag, to put him and Jefferson on the case, they refused to due to Dahm still being a Probationary Officer. Despite this, he felt he was responsible to bring them to justice, and spent extended hours in the station looking researching the records and profiles of his old gang. This massive increase in productivity quickly got the attention of his partner Jefferson, who confronted him about the reason of this sudden push in effort. Though initially denying the allegations, he eventually gave in, telling him that he knew the robber in high school. However, he has since dropped out of contact with him soon after he entered Uni, being careful to distance himself from his former friends. A few days later, Jefferson revealed he had Intel on a planned trap to spring on the robbers, managing to convince the Intendent to change their patrol route to a place where they could quickly respond to it. Though that operation was a failure, they both knew it was only a matter of time before they caught them. It was months later in late October that Dahm finally had another chance. The gang had engaged in a hit-and-run, and the pair were pursuing in a Givet police vehicle. It was here that Dahm first displayed his driving skill, keeping pace with the runaways for more than fifteen minutes. After that, a stunt went badly wrong when the criminal driver attempted to shake them off in a U-turn, but collided with the side of a building. Parking his vehicle, Dahm was about to check the wreckage before he saw a silhouette run from the vehicle down the street. Dahm quickly gave chase down the alleys, only to be cornered when a wrong turn allowed himself to be trapped. Rather than gunning him down quickly, Dahm managed to distract them into a rather tense conversation, giving enough time for Jefferson to hit them from behind. He became upset when Jefferson killed Yelding in his opening rounds, and placed himself in Jefferson's line of fire to save the others. Given no-where to run, the gang were successfully arrested. The rest of his partnership with Jefferson was far less emotional or exciting. Though they managed to shut down a small black-market operation and started an investigation into a child slavery ring, they were given the less thrilling job of following up on expired licenses or acting as security at major events. Dahm despised this, even more when it was a private event they had to guard, though Jefferson ordered him to endure it. Despite these disagreements, among others, both respected each others' skills and abilities, and remained good friends even after Dahm became qualified as an officer of the law. The Early Years Now having a taste at what policing was really like during his probationary period, Dahm's enthusiasm improved after he received the rank of Constable. Assigned into a small squad, he would routinely patrol the streets on foot, mainly to fulfill mundane duties such as fining and breaking up drunken stand-offs. While most within his squad were content with roaming the streets, Dahm frequently ventured into back-alleys of Mira in search of trouble. To his distaste, little besides insults thrown from the resident homeless population would ever emerge from them. Nevertheless, Dahm would loyally serve the force, even if he never did anything particularly distinctive during his earliest time there. Fortunately, Dahm would be given an opportunity to distinguish himself during his second year. During the month of April, a townhouse suddenly caught in one of the housing commission suburbs. Arriving first on the scene, Dahm would quickly establish a perimeter to stop others from approaching the building. As the minutes ticked down, he made the decision to rush into the building to assist in the rescue before the fire department arrived. In total, he would save almost fifteen lives before anyone else arrived, and with extra help saved nearly all of the 120 people that lived there by the night's end. Although the injuries he sustained would temporarily remove him from duty, on his return Dahm would receive a commendation. Later Career One Last Mistake The Decision to Enlist Fall of Alluvion Immediately after training, Dahm's first posting was on the colony of . As part of a detachment from the 133rd Infantry Battalion, Dahm's squad were tasked with protecting the regional UNSC Maritime headquarters located on the outskirts of Salamis. Because of this, Dahm was unexpectedly called to defend the city when the Covenant arrived in , and was caught unprepared when they suddenly set fire to the headquarters. He was thoroughly saved by an anonymous SPARTAN. The Battle of Circumstance Physical Attributes Appearance Standing over six feet tall, Dahm was not as bulky as other career Marines, giving him a lean look. Despite this, his muscle structure was well-defined from his active upbringing and career that demanded the best of his physical abilities. His shoulders aren't as broad as other people, only being slightly wider than his hips. His skin is well-tanned thanks to years in the sun, with plentiful freckles along his arms. Unlike his wife, however, Dahm looks about a decade older than his supposed age, with lots of wrinkles and scars earned from combat injuries. His brown hair, often cut fairly short but occasionally was permitted to grow fairly long, has begun to grey after his fortieth birthday, though he often dyes it to retain a semblance of youth. His main characteristic look was with a three-day-growth, however he has been known to stay clean-shaven and has refused to let it grow too far out of control. He has a tattoo of a dragon that wrapped around his left arm, with the insignia of the UEG Law Enforcement with it's motto on his right shoulder that was always kept covered over after he was discharged from the police force. For the most part, Dahm wears a plain-coloured T-shirt with shorts that have plenty of pockets, although this wasn't set and he often did deviate from this for one reason or another. However, he always seemed set on having a morale patch set on the left side of his chest, which usually featured Australian imagery. His typical smart-casual clothes was a red-and-blue short-sleeved flannelette shirt, now an unpopular choice due to it's age, and a pair of blue denim jeans. In his youth he could be often found sporting a cap of his favourite football club, the Miran Mariners, wearing it so frequently that friends and family could use it to pick him out of crowds. Personality A distinctive character of the Mira City Police Department, Dahm has been described as idealistic, good-natured yet somewhat arrogant. A hard-worker in the field, he has a strong sense of justice that once conflicted with his ability to trust easily. Any sign of corruption was intolerable for him, and he held a strong code in regards to human life which stemmed from his experiences during the heist which changed his life. Reluctantly, he only killed another human to save another, and only after all other options have been exhausted. This would make him frequently disregard orders, butting heads with authority on a weekly basis. This quirk ultimately got him discharged from the force after he failed to stop a suicide bomber from killing over a dozen people in a cafe. These strong stances made him look down on military personnel, especially augmented soldiers, for their willingness to take life in an instant. Sadly, this became a strong and common conflict in his mind later on as he found himself forced to do the very same things to stay alive. Dahm was known for being easy-going, and found it hard to be angered or embarrassed. He was stubborn and highly opinionated, something which was expressed when he talked faster than he thinks. This comes off as insubordination to his superiors, yet excused by his co-workers and friends. This was because he genuinely cares about the well-being of his co-workers - he would help wherever he could, and in stressful assignments would invite them for a night out or simply play his guitar in the office. He was trustworthy and honest, and would never attempt to lie or betray them, even when intoxicated by alcohol. He liked making jokes in the field, or at the very least entering conversation with someone clearly under stress to take their mind off their case, made all the more better by his charisma. Somewhat ironically, Dahm is not one to discuss personal issues due to his pride, and only on occasion would he accept help for the same reason. However, although stubborn, he wasn't immune to gang pressure even when they conflicted with his beliefs - one example was his enlistment into the Marines. Within his circles of work and friendship, Dahm was known as a womaniser. He would sometimes hook up with multiple women at once just to have sex with them, causing so much tension with his first wife that their marriage would end up in a divorce. In his youth, he lived for the thrill, disliking paperwork and thriving on fieldwork. He would pull off ridiculous stunts in police pursuits just to achieve that thrill factor, to the dismay of his peers. It's for this reason he often volunteered for dangerous plans. As Dahm got older, he found himself more and more conflicted about himself and his life. While a younger Dahm would easily disregard orders, he has curbed his willingness to do this in favour of pursuing a career. He began to kill more frequently, mostly in self-defence, lying that the world is better off without them. In an effort to maintain his integrity, he recorded the names and faces of those he killed to remember them. He became ashamed of how easily he has desensitised himself to killing. He also became more cautious as time went on, rarely pursuing his missions with the same energy as he once did. To better cope with this guilt, he turned more and more to alcohol and indulged in religious practices more often to give him some sense of relief. He still maintains a facade of confidence, however. Dahm, like the rest of his family, spoke with a strong Australian country accent. This became less pronounced in time, as he began to take on the Circumstancian's European-like ascent and the American accent that most of the population had. To further distinguish himself, he has a habit of excessively swearing, not to insult people around him but because his upbringing encouraged it. In addition, he also uses a lot of slang derived from Australia - some of it genuine phrases from there, others marketed by Australian tourism companies. He makes an effort to let his peers know when he's joking by elevating his pitch slightly. Dahm tends to be the driving force in most conversations, encouraging them to speak by asking questions which cannot be answered with a simple yes or no and having a genuine interest in the other party. He likes to talk about his stunts from his youthful years, but what people might find annoying is his habit to brag and run his opinionated mouth, especially after drinking. Luckily, he is careful to keep his negative comments to himself. Skills and Abilities For the most part, Dahm's gunplay skills tend to range from average to subpar, occasionally being belittled for his inaccuracy with a or his inability to bring a to bear. This was not the case when it came to handguns, having put in a great deal of time to practice with them and work with their quirks. While officers and Marines were trained to shoot at the centre of mass, Dahm was capable of being able to track and accurately bring down targets by hitting their limbs, forcing them to drop a weapon in a hostage situation or cripple escaping criminals. He has proven to be able to reliably hit his opponent at up to about two hundred metres away, and can control the recoil rise extremely well. He can even dual-wield two with a reasonable level of firerate and accuracy, with the lack of iron sights and their high recoil making it difficult to maintain his usual standard of quality. Because of this deficiency, Dahm has had to make up his lethality in other ways. He has earned a reputation for being extremely hard to kill, with his slight cowardice, sprint speed and endurance, and use of his environment all contributing to this. On occasion, he has been able to stage effective ambushes against those trying to chase him down, such as hiding in roofs and dropping down on his enemies. Dahm has exhibited talent in the pilot and drivers seat, the latter owing from his fixation with auto-mobiles. While he can hardly be called an ace in the air, he was able to manoeuvre around to be a tough target to hit in even his personalised Longsword, and being creative enough to lure experienced pilots into feints. This has only enhanced with training from Sylvia Farkas, who has taught him how to fly pelicans, falcons and condors. On the ground, Dahm was a master driver, being able to chase down runaways in high-speed pursuits in cramped streets and areas of high congestion. Although he wasn't the best, as he had been beaten by rivals in good-natured races, his ability to know when to drift and the like were enough to set him near the top in most situations. Firearms Vehicles Relationships Sylvia Farkas First meeting Farkas when he was put through his first formal piloting course, Dahm would quickly develop a unique chemistry with the independent-spirit pilot. Engaging in playful taunting of each other, the two would quickly learn they shared many similarities, including a general distrust in the UNSC, a fondness for jokes and pranks, and even openly acknowledged they enjoyed drinking. Their playfulness with each other extended to frequent competitions such as Warthog and jet races, and would often bet against each other, honouring the deal they made. Artemidya Kalashnik Trivia *This character was the winner of the Sixth season of Survival of the Fittest. List of Appearances *''Distraction'' *''Have a Drink'' *''RP:Jaeter's Protectors'' *''RP:Light of the Abyss'' *''Survival of the Fittest'' **''Season Six'' Notes Category:Detectives and criminal investigators Category:Males Category:UNSC Category:UNSC Personnel Category:UNSC Marine Corps Personnel Category:Survivors of the Human-Covenant War Category:Human-Covenant War Category:Humans Category:ZOD Characters Category:ONI Personnel